Very fast with cracks all around, RoseGarden, Berkeley.
Right amidst mostly 1 million dollars homes with some close to 4 one block away.
SE corner's of all 3 courts have dropped (sunken 12 - 24") since they were paved 5 years ago.

Very fast with cracks all around, RoseGarden, Berkeley.
Right amidst mostly 1 million dollars homes with some close to 4 one block away.
SE corner's of all 3 courts have dropped (sunken 12 - 24") since they were paved 5 years ago.

Click to expand...

Holy smokes, what the heck happened to the court second from the left? Half of it is GONE!

A lot of the resurfaced courts in these parts are blue-er than they were before. Many of the newly minted courts have switched from green to "US Open" blue (with green for the out-of-bounds area). Contrast is much better but, sadly, the windscreens are still green (or dark in color).

Some courts that have been redone are slower, some are faster, some are about the same. It seems that the quality of the resurface on some is inferior to what it was previously -- some courts develop cracks or slight depressions within 2-3 months of resurfacing. A few have noticeable dead spots.

Public courts that aren't resurfaced often enough just become fast by wear. Sunlight does plenty damage in Florida to expedite the speed of the courts. The surface paint uses nowadays is grittier and thicker than it was a couple decades ago. The result is that courts with fresher surfaces is slower.

However, clay courts that I play on in the humid southeast tend to have a wetting effect of the ball. So, I am not sure whether the clay is slower, but the heavier balls make clay tennis down here seem slower than I remember as a kid. I could be way off on this opinion, but its what I feel about clay.

I typically play on 4 different courts (1 indoors, 3 outside). Sure, there are differences between the surfaces. But none of those differences are as drammatic as the difference in temperature. At noon, it is ~75 F, and things are quite bouncy and fast (and the surface is the least of those contributing factors). In the evening, the temperature is ~50 F, and everything is so different!

I also play well into the winter outside, and strangely enough, those courts with the "best" surface (nice thick, rubberized layer), which provide the softest/slowest bounce during the summer, in the winter months definitely become the "bounciest". The public courts with the poorest of surfaces, which are the fastest int he summer, become the slowest in the winter.

Most public courts are very fast around here, as they tend to be asphalt with little grit in the first place that has been weathered badly.

A few resurfaced courts at local high schools have added some grit and thus slowed down. I like the way the ball plays on a grittier court, but it's harder on your joints, so I'm starting to no like it.

Twenty years ago I don't remember playing at many, well any, courts that had significant grit. They were all fairly slick and had very, very small grains of sand mixed in the top paint. That or the courts were just old. As I think back I did not care much about court surfaces or other uncontrollable variables.

In the last 2 years, I've played at over 20 different outdoor hard court locations. All the resurfaced ones are just beautiful. But when I bend down and run my hand over the court surface it's really sandy and rough like sand paper. Maybe more sand, bigger sand brings less liability for the court owners? Less slippage in light rain?

As for the courts that had not been resurfaced recently most still seemed pretty slow. Again lots of big sand particles in the paint. Somehow I get excited whenever I see a court that has fairly smooth paint with little sand. Balls move faster, when running I don't stop as abruptly, and balls fluff up less.